In this Point of Departure, the idea of authentic assessment is examined and troubled by drawing on Derrida's hauntology. The spectres of higher education invite us to reconsider what is 'real' about past, present, and future assessment practices. Such spectres do not lecture or produce a single, definitive interpretation. Rather, these spectres…

Beginning in the mid-1980s, European governments have increasingly implemented performance-based funding systems for higher education. While a focus on the transnational pressures that contributed to the widespread adoption of performance-based funding in Europe accounts for the impetus for performance-based funding policies, it fails to address…

This article examines performance-based funding (PBF) as a governance tool in higher education through a meta-narrative review of recent literature. Rather than offering yet another extensive critique of neoliberalism and new public management (NPM) as drivers of PBF, it calls for a closer look at the conditions under which PBF succeeds or fails,…

Exams have traditionally dominated assessment in higher education. Yet, we still do not know if they are authentic assessment, especially in an environment of rapid demographic changes within higher education and evolving perceptions of authenticity. This work offers a method to measure exam authenticity, defined as the overlap between exams and…

The Performance Appraisal System (PAS) plays a key role in the overall success of an organization. An appropriate PAS has the potential to increase employee satisfaction at work. When employees are satisfied with the PAS they tend to be more satisfied with their jobs. This study aims to demonstrate the level of practices and the characteristics of…

This article troubles a pervasive concept within higher education studies: authentic assessment. Authentic assessment is well-established within higher education, and yet its common usage leaves it limited in possibility. Often understood as a practice focused on tasks, where assessments represent a 'reality' beyond universities, authentic…

With increasing calls for authentic assessment in higher education, the reference point for authenticity has been questioned. Typically, researchers define authenticity in relation to purposes of higher education, which are contested. Advancing the notion of educational authenticity rather than professional, societal, disciplinary, or…

Purpose: This article investigates the application of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in experiential learning for authentic assessment in higher education. Recognized for its human-like content generation, GenAI has garnered widespread interest, raising concerns regarding its reliability, ethical considerations and overall impact. The…

For over 30 years, the notion of authentic assessment in higher education has been adopted in academic practice, but it has managed to escape substantial critique. Although there have been multiple definitions and operationalisations of authentic assessment, current practice tends to foreground mimicking of work tasks. Authenticity cannot be…

Purpose: SETARA is a well-known university rating tool in Malaysia. The study aims to enhance the transparency, accuracy, and reliability of SETARA assessment instrument by improving its weighting scheme for the domains, sub-domains, criteria, and indicators. Design/methodology/approach: The study utilized a quantitative research design and…

While traditional faculty mentoring programs exist across higher education institutions, support is typically delivered to mentees in a one-way format, resulting in mentoring that does not promote ownership of improving instruction. To study the problem, a conceptual framework incorporating constructivism teaching theory and post-modern…

Performance-funding for higher education diffused across the U.S. following the Great Recession that led to funding cuts for the system. Postsecondary funding never returned to pre-Recession levels, and public colleges are held to higher expectations even as the funding they might use to meet these expectations has diminished. This is a challenge…

Studies reporting flexible assessment strategies and their impact across different modes of study remain limited with little emphasis placed on the role these arrangements play in devising authentic assessment processes. This paper synthesises recent research work depicting flexible design principles and practice strategies for how educators might…

Authentic assessment is a widely discussed concept in higher education, but it has a problem: the concept has become so all-encompassing that its meaning is now unclear. The notion has been expanded and diluted. For example, adding social justice to the definition or positioning exams as authentic, adds to the contradictions inherent within in the…

Authentic assessment aligns higher education with the practices of students' future professions, which are increasingly digitally mediated. However, previous frameworks for authentic assessment appear not to explicitly address how authenticity intersects with a broader digital world. This critical scoping review describes how the digital has been…